Skype Plugin for Asterisk
Digium, makers of Asterisk telephony solutions, and VoIP provider Skype have announced a one-year development period for a Skype plugin to the free telephony service.
The proprietary Asterisk plugin provides Skype users with not only SkypeIn and SkypeOut to friends worldwide but also in other PSTN and mobile networks. Every user requires a separate channel costing $66.
According to the providers, most of the Skype features are already integrated and working, such as multiple concurrent connections, routing, IM, video, the online Skype profiles and Skype settings. Users can get to the client equally from Skype or Asterisk to enjoy the usual applications such as voice mail or conferencing. Phone calls require the Asterisk client, while advanced features such as video telephony require the Skype software.
To enable the Skype plugin functionality a minimum of Asterisk server version 1.4 is required. The codecs supported are the G.711 and G.729 standards. Two server users calling over Skype each need a license.